Valve mechanism for wells



Patented Dec. 28, 19,256.y

UNITEn STATES CHKARLES H. BENCKENSTEIN, F VIN TON, LOUISIANA.

VALVE Mncnamsm non WELLS.

' Application led February 6, 1925. Serial No. 7,423.

The invention relates to valve mechanisms for wells and one of theobjects of the invention is to provide a valve mechanism which willgreatly facilitate the setting and 6 washing of wells. Another object ofthe invention is to provide a valve mechanism of this character whichwill eliminate the necessity for equalizing the pressure above and belowthe back pressure valve, as is necessary in the use of back pressurevalves previously known.-

A further advantage ofthe invention resides in provision of av valve soconstructed that it is impossible for it to be rendered'inoperative byreason of. encountering mud, sand, rocks, dbris,'etc., as commonlyhappens in the previous practice.

Another advantage of the invention residesin the provision of a bottomor lower valve, mounted onthe stem of the back pressure valve, for thevpurpose of protecting the latter.

Another advantage of the invention resides in the rovision of a valve soconstructed that it 1s impossible for sand or other matter to becomelodged between Vthe valvey and its seat, thereby preventing the properseating of .the valve.v

Still another object of the invention is to provide a valve mechanismwhich maybe employed-to 4aid in pulling the screen.

Another, and very material feature of the present invention relates toan arrangement of springs in connection with the back pressure valvewhereby the tension on the valve is increased and whereby the valve isnecessarily retained in alignment with its seat, thereby eliminating thepossibility of the valve being thrown out of alignment and thuspreventing its seating and rendering the device inoperative. The presentapplication is limited to improvements on my valve disclosed in PatentNo. 1,505,850, August 19, 1924, in which patent the valve is elaimedbroa ly.

In ,order that the advantages of the present invention may be moreclearly understood, I will frstbriely describe a few of the difficultiesthat are often encounteredin `the setting and washing of wells with the4back pressure valves formerly in common use.'-

In setting a well, with the old standard back pressure valve in use, it`is necessaryas the screen and liner are lowered into the' well a fewhundred feet to ll the screen-and liner with heavy mud in, order thatthe pressure exerted by the mud in thehole will not force out the backpressure valve. In other words, the pressure against the back'pres surevalve mustbe equalized in order that it will not be forced out by cominginto contact with, or passing through the mud in the hole. This must bedone notponly after ithe screen and liner have been lowered into thehole a few hundred feet, but also at about every one hundred feet inorder to keep the pressure substantially equaliz/ed at all times.

Another disadvantage resulting from the use of the old standard backpressure valve is that when the screen and liner have been lowered towithin a few feet of the bottom` of the well, trouble is oftenencountered by reason of the mud, rocks, sand, and other residue thatmay lie in the bottom of the hole and force their way up5 through thenipple and against theback pressure valve preventing its operationentirely.

Another diiiiculty often encountered in the use of the old.' standardback pressure' pump water or oil around the outside of the screen thepressure on the screen would be relieved and it c uld bepulled; but itis impossible to do this with the old standard backl pressure valverendered inoperative from' any one of numerous causes, a few of whichhave been outlined above.

The purpose of the present invention is-to provide a valve mechanismwhich will overcome all ofthe above-mentioned diliiculties and otherswell-known to .those skilled in .the art to which this inventionappertains.

The invention will now be described in detail, reference being had` tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 1s a vertical sectional view` of the i lower portion of a well;4

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of my improved valve mechanismftheback pressure valve being in open position and,

Figure 3 is a similarY view through the apparatus, showing the backpressure valve in closed position, the wash being shown in elevation.

pipe and nozzle Referring to the drawings more in (detail,

numeral 1 indicates the lower end of the usual well casing. Numeral 2indicates the valve casing which is the equivalent of the ordinary mudnozzle and which is attached at its upper end to the lower end of thescreen 3; the Screen being connected to the liner 4 which extends upinto the casing in the usual manner.

The valve is ret'erred to by numeral 5 and it is provided with a valvestem 6 slidably imounted in the valve 'stem guide 'i'. A member 8 isalso mounted in the valve casing and the upper side of this member isprovided with a valve seat 9, while the lower side thereof is providedwith a second valve seat- 10.

The usual wash pipe is indicated by numeral 12 and mounted on the lowerend thereof is a nozzle 13 having apertures 14 for the passage of wateror oil; and also provided with a tapering shoulder 15 which is adaptedto engage the upper valve seat 9. The member 8 is provided with acentrally arranged passage 16 to permit the nozzle 13 to passtherethrough and engage the valve 5 for a purpose to appear hereinafter.

Mounted on the valve stem 6 immediately below the valve 5 is a spiderframe 17 having the outwardly extending lugs 18; the spider frame beingsecured in position against the valve by means of a nut 19. Obviouslythe spider frame could befeliminated and the same result obtained byforming outwardly extending lugs integral with the valve 5 if preferred.The valve stem 6 extends downwardly through the` valve stem guidev e7which is preferably screw threadedly mounted in the valve casing. 2 andwhich is, of course, provided with a suitable aperture to permit themovement of the valve stem therethrough, and with other apertures forthe passage of oil or other liquid. Surrounding the valve stem 6 is acoil spring 11 arranged between the valve stem guide and the valve, sothat the valve is normally forced upward into engagement with its seatl0. A spring, of this character does not always put a sufficient tensionon the valve and further, because of the central arrangement of thespring, it is possible that the valve might be thrown out of alignmentwith its valve seat, thereby rendering the device inoperative.Accordingly I 4have placed a relatively heavy spring 20 enga-g- `ing atits lower end with the valve stem guide and at its upper end with theoutwardly extending lug 18 of the spider frame 17. lt will be noted thatthe diameter of this relatively heavy coil spring is almost equal to thediameter of the casing and because of its vertical pressure against thevalve, at `points distant from the center line thereof, it is obviousthat the valve must always remain in proper alignment. with its seat.

Arranged on the lower end of. the stem 6 is a bottom or lower valveindicated by the numeral 21. rThe valve 21 seats against the member T,as clearly shown in Figure 3, and the function of this valve is to closethe apertures in the member 7, and thereby prevent sand, water, oil,etc. from entering the space between the valve 5 and the member 7. Thebottom valve 7 thus acts as a protector for the valve 5 andassociatedparts. As valve 5 and valve 21 are both mounted on the samevalve stem G it is apparent that they will operate together, so thatwhen alve 5 is open valve 21 is also open, and when valve 5 is closedvalve 21 is also closed.

In the operation ot' setting a well With the apparatus described herein,the liner, screen and wash pipe are run into the well in the usualmanner, but the wash pipe which carries the nozzle 13 is so positionedthat the nozzle extends through the central bore ot` the member 8,engages the valve 5 and forces it and valve 2l to open position, asclearly shown in Figure 2. lt is thus apparent that as the parts arelowered into the well the back pressure valve is opened and the mud isfree to pass through the opening 16 into the wash pipe, thus equalizingthe pressure on the valve, and eliminating the necessity of filling thescreen and liner with mud, as in the prior practice. In .my constructionthe back pressure valve is maintained in open position by the nozzle ofthe wash pipe after the parts are lowered into the hole, thus permittinga thorough washing of the well, when the nozzle is in its operativeposition, as shown in Figure 2, the inclined shoulder 15 of the nozzleengages the upper valve seat- 9 thereby avoiding any loss of pressure inwashing the well, duc to water from the wash pipe backing up into theliner.

After the well has been washed the Wash pipe is raised, as shown inFigure 3, whereupon the valves 5 and 21 automatically close by means ofthe coil spring 11 assisted by the heavy coil spring 2O which, asliereinbefore stated, is or' large diameter to insure the properalignment of the valve and valve stem.

It is to be noted that my valve mechanism cannot be rendered inoperativeby reason of encountering mud, sand, stones, etc., at the bottom of thewell; for the valve is positively held open when the parts are loweredinto the hole and when the wash pipe is withdrawn the valve will merelymove upwardly into the space pireviously occupied by the nozzle of thewash pipe and at the Sametime the valve 2l will close, and thus there isnothing to prevent the proper functioning of the back pressure valve. Itis also to be noted that the present mechanism presents a ready meansfor assisting in the pulling of screens. It, with the present device,the operator makes a test and wishes te pull his screen, he can lowertlienozzle and wash pipe into the well, allowing the nozzle to seat downon the valve and forcey it and the bottom valve open, thus allowingwater or oil to be forced down the Well and out around the screenthereby relieving it of all -pressure and permitting its withdrawal./And by the improvements disclosed herein over my prior Patent No.1,505,850 there is always present sulicient pressure to close the backpressui'e valve and the novel arrangement of springs possesses thefurther function of always retaining th'e valve and its sem in properalignment.

Inl accordance Awith the patent statutes I have described what I nowbelieve to be the best embodiment of the invention, but I do not wish tobe understood thereby as limit ing myself or the Scope of the invention,as many changes and modifications may be made without departing'from thespirit of the invention; all such I aim to include in the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for wells, a Wash pipe,

' sure valve, a valve seat arranged below the ygreater diameterthanthefirst mentioned spring and functioning to close the valve and to retainthe same in proper alignment,`a valve stern guide having an-openingtherein, and a vvalve carrie-d by the back pressure valve stem andadapted to close said o ening.

2. In .an apparatus for wells, a was pipe, a back pressure valve, meansattached to said Wash pipe for opening the back presback pressure valve,and a valve cooperating with said valve seat, said second-mentionedvalve being operatively connected with -said back pressure valve. 3. Inan apparatus `for wells, a wash pipe, a back pressure valve, meansattached to said wash pipe for o penn the back pressure valve, a valvestem gui e having an o ening there-in, and a valve-carried by t surevalve stem and adapted to close said 6 opening. u CHARLES H.BENCKENSTEIN.

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